Article feeding device



Pril 20, 1 4 H. w. ROEBER ARTICLE FEEDING DEVYICE Filed Feb. 10, 1949 2Sheets-Sheet l m m y 4 Wzm H /Z TTE 5 April 20, 1954 H. w. ROEBERARTICLE FEEDING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 10, 1949 INVENTOR. 1MRoeber Henry mm; M

Attorney Patented Apr. 20, 1954 ARTICLE FEEDING DEVKCE Henry W. Roeber,Emporium, Pa., assignor to Sylvania Electric Products Inc., acorporation of Massachusetts Application February 10, 1949, Serial No.75,588

5 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to article feeding devices and moreparticularly to a device for axially feeding short tubular glass workpieces from a reservoir to a mold where further work operations areperformed on the glass section.

While the device of the present invention is not limited thereto, it isparticularly applicable to molding machines of the type disclosed inapplication No. 725,894 filed February 1, 1947 by the present applicantjointly with S. J. Gartner and W. L. Reiter, said application beingassigned to the assignee of the present application.

The machine in said application is particularly adapted to sealing metalleads transversely through a molded glass button to form a header forradio tubes and like devices. The machine includes a turret carrying aplurality of spindles, each spindle including upper and lower moldcavities, both cavities having bores for receiving metal leads which areto be sealed into the molded glass. In the operation of the machine, atleast some of the metal leads are placed into the bores in the moldcavities and a short length of glass tubing is set into the lower moldcavity around the metal leads. directed toward the glass tubing until itsoftens sufficiently so that when the upper mold cavity is pressed downagainst the lower mold cavity the glass tubing is molded into a solidglass button having the leads extending therethrough.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved meansfor placing a short section of glass tubing in the lower mold of saidmachine in preparation for subsequent molding the provision of a feedingmeans for delivering short pieces of glass tubing from a reservoir to apredetermined location, in regularly timed sequence of operations.

The foregoing objects, and others which may appear from the followingdetailed description, are attained by providing a hopper in the shape ofan inverted cone for carrying a plurality of work pieces in the form ofshort sections of glass tubing. An axially movable feed tube'isprovided, extending through an axial aperture in the Thereafter flamesare 5 hopper. The feed tube is arranged to be vertically reciprocatedthrough the mass of glass sections in the hopper, the diameter of thefeed tube being such that the glass sections can fall into the tube onlyin an aligned end-to-end relationship. The continued reciprocation ofthe feed tube through the mass of work pieces assures that it is alwaysmaintained full as long as there is a sufficient supply of glasssections in the hopper. The lower part of the feed tube carries a sleevehaving a ball chuck therein which normally functions to support thestack of glass sections in the tubing. Each downward movement of thetube over a mold causes the sleeve to engage the mold and arrest itsmovement. Continued downward movement of the feed tube releases theclutch and permits one section of glass tubing to drop into the mold.The upward stroke of the axially movable feed tube causes the clutch toagain. engage the next glass tubing section whereby only the lowermostglass section remains in the mold.

The present invention will be more fully understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description which is accompanied by a drawing, inwhich Fig. 1 illustrates the application of the feed arrangement of thepresent invention to a molding machine as described above, while Fig. 2is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the present invention,

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken along line 3--3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 2, whileFig. 5 is a section taken through line 55 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the Work pieces adapted to be fedby the machine of the present invention, while Fig. '7 is a side view ofthe work piece of Fig. 6 after it has been remolded by the moldingmachine of Fig. 1.

The machine shown in Fig. 1 includes a rotatable turret Ill carryingaround its periphery a number of rotatable spindles ll. While only oneof the spindles l I is shown, it should be understood that as large anumber as may be required is arranged, evenly spaced around theperiphery of the turret in. The turret is preferably indexed cyclicallyabout, so that each spindle in turn occupies a number of work stationsaround the periphery of the turret. In many of the work stations, thespindles I I are arranged to be driven by a chain l2 independently ofthe rotation of the turret. In other of the stations. it may be desiredto hold the spindles H stationary. The details of the construction forperforming this function are not shown in this application, since theyare of no interest in the present construction. However, reference maybe made to the above mentioned prior filed application for furtherdetails if desired.

Each of the spindles carries a lower mold l3. There is also associatedwith each spindle an upper mold M which may be shifted into and out of aposition axially aligned with the lower mold I 3. Molds i3 and M areprovided with bores to take the wires [5 (Fig. 7), which are to bemolded into the glass header button Hi. The mold cavities l3 and [4 areproperly formed so as to produce the desired conformation of the button16. At the station where the glass tubing is to be loaded into the lowermold 13, means are provided for swinging upper mold l4 out of the way,so that the loading tube 30 of the feeder structure may seat over thelower mold l3. The feeder is rigidly supported over the desired loadingstation by supporting arm 2! extending from the central non-rotatablepost 22 of the molding machine. Cam 23 of the molding machine rotatesonce for each stepwise movement of the main turret l0 and, in rotating,through lever arm 25, cam 23 causes one reciprocatory movement ofactuating rod 2! as each spindle comes into position under the tubingfeeder. Each cycle of movement of rod 21 causes central feed tube 30(Fig. 2) of the tubing feeder to be reciprocated axially between anupper limit indicated by the dotted line 3i in Fig. 2 and a lower limitwherein the lower end of tube 30 rests against mold l3, of the moldingmachine as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. It will beunderstood that cone-shaped hopper 32 of Fig. 2 contains a large numberof work pieces in the form of short cylindrical sections T of glasstubing such as shown in Fig. 6. The upward movement of tube 36 as longas it is not filled with work pieces will engage a number of the workpieces in proper relationship so that they will fall into the tube. Thetube is thus maintained full at all times. Around the lower end of tube39 isuprovided a chuck sleeve 35 having a counter-bore 36 at its lowerend. The counterbore has a tapered portion 31 at its upper end adaptedto press against clutch balls 39 and press them inwardly into engagementwith the lowermost work piece. The pressure of balls 39 against workpiece T is obtained by the weight of sleeve 35. As tube 30 moves in adownward direction the chuck sleeve 35 eventually comes into contactwith the lower mold member l3 and is stopped, while the downward motionof tube 30 continues. This action releases the pressure of the camsurface 31 against the chuck balls 39 and allows the lowermost workpiece to drop into the work cavity. As the movement of tube 30 isreversed, the cam surfaces again come into contact with the chuck balls39 and the chuck balls engage the next work piece T above the one justreleased.

Fig. 3 of the drawing, being a section taken horizontally through thework piece chuck, shows the concentric arrangement of the work piece,the vertically reciprocating feed tube 30, and the ball chuck jaws 39maintained in position between the walls of tapered holes 49 and chucksleeve 35.

The apex 43 of cone-shaped hopper 32 is carried for rotation by bearings4| and driven by 4 gear train 42 from motor 44. The rotation of thecentral portion of the hopper together with the continued verticalreciprocation of feed tube 30 maintains the mass of glass work pieces inthe hopper in a constant state of agitation such that in eachreciprocation tube 30 encounters one or more work pieces in a positionto drop into the tube as long as hopper 32 contains a reasonable numberof work pieces. Rod 21 is coupled to the feed tube 36 by means of across head 46 clamped to the feed tube 30 and guided for verticalreciprocation by guide rods 48 and 50 (Fig. 5). In the event it isdesired not to place a work piece on any particular chuck l3 as itarrives at the loading position, solenoid 52 (Fig. 2), may be energized,thus pulling latch member 53 into the path of member 55. The cross headis thus locked against vertical reciprocation and the cam follower endof lever 25 rides free from the surface of cam 23 until the solenoid 52is again deenergized.

Since there is a possibility that some of the work pieces may be broken,means are provided for removing such pieces from the feed tube 30. Thisincludes an aperture til in the feed tube 30 extending over asubstantial longitudinal extent of the tube 30. Work pieces areprevented from falling freely out of this aperture by a gate in the formof a longitudinal strip of metal 62 supported by hinge members, one ofwhich is shown in section in Fig. 4, and indicated by referencecharacter 64. By swinging member 62 out of the way, ready access isprovided to the interior of feed tube 30 for removing any number ofbroken pieces.

What is claimed is:

1. An article feeding device including a conical hopper for holding asupply of said articles, a feed tube arranged for vertical reciprocationthrough the mass of articles whereby said tube is continually maintainedfull of said articles, chuck means at the lower end of said tube andmeans for releasing said chuck at the lower end of each reciprocatingstroke whereby one of said articles is released and means for actuatingsaid chuck to grasp the next adjacent article at the beginning of upwardmovement of said tube.

2. A tubing feeding device including a hopper for holding a supply ofsaid short sections of tubing, means for stirring said sections, a feedtube arranged for vertical reciprocation through the mass of sectionswhereby said tube is continually maintained full of said sections, chuckmeans at a distance above the lower end of said tube greater than thelength of one of said sections for grasping the lowermost of saidsections and means for releasing said chuck at the lower end of eachreciprocating stroke whereby the grasped one of said sections isreleased, and means for actuating said chuck to grasp the next adjacentsection at the beginning of upward movement of said tube.

3. A work piece feeder adapted to deposit 'short, cylindrical workpieces into a work holder, including a feed tube, containing a number ofsaid pieces in an end to end arrangement, chuck means on said tubeadapted to grip the end one of said pieces, chuck operating meansadapted to release said end work piece upon contact with said workholder and means effective to cause said chuck to grip the work piecenext to the end one upon movement of said tube away from said workholder.

4. A glass tubing feeder adapted to deposit individual short sections ofglass tubing into a work holder, including a feed tube, containing anumber of said sections in an end to end arrangement, chuck means onsaid tube adapted to hold the end one of said sections, chuck'operatingmeans adapted to release said end section upon contact with a Workholder and means effective to cause said chuck to engage the sectionnext to the end one upon movement of said tube away from said workholder, said chuck including a plurality of radially movable piecesextending through the wall of said feed tube to bear on the sides ofsaid sections and an axially movable sleeve about the lower end of saidtube, said sleeve having a cam surface on its interior, adapted to movesaid radially movable pieces inward as the end of said sleeve is movedbeyond the end of said feed tube the weight of said sleeve serving tohold the lowermost of said section.

5. A work piece feeder adapted to deposit work pieces into a workholder, including a feed tube, containing a number of said pieces in anend to end arrangement, chuck means on said tube adapted to hold the endone of said pieces, chuck operating means adapted to release said endwork piece upon contact with said work holder and means effective tocause said chuck to engage the work piece next to the end one uponmovement of said tube away from said work holder, said chuck including aplurality of radi ally movable pieces extending through the wall of saidfeed tube and an axially movable sleeve about the lower end of saidtube, said sleeve having a cam surface on its interior, adapted to movesaid radially movable pieces inward as the end of said sleeve is movedbeyond the end of said feed tube, said radially movable pieces beinglocated a distance from the end of said tube greater than the length ofone work piece.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 590,635 Sturtevant Sept. 28, 1897 620,350 McGrail Feb. 28,1899 734,734 McBerty et a1 July 28, 1903 866,347 Fagan Sept. 17, 1907959,930 Graybill May 31, 1910 1,437,431 Lonbom et al. Dec. 5, 19221,492,602 Leveridge et al May 6, 1924 1,536,833 Fagan et al May 5, 19252,311,251 Rees et a1 Feb. 16, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date10,224 Great Britain Apr. 25, 1914

